But the puck found its way to the blade of Joe Thornton's stick just outside the crease at 2:22 of overtime Monday night and now the Sharks are moving on to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Thornton's nifty spin move to the half of the net unoccupied by Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick gave the Sharks a 4-3 victory that clinched their best-of-seven series in six games, with three of San Jose's four wins coming in overtime.

"The puck kind of popped out," said the Sharks captain. "I was in front of the net and just grabbed it and put it in the open net. It was a pretty good play, whoever shot the puck. I was just in the right place at the right time."

For Thornton, who for years has listened to critics demean his postseason play, it was the first overtime playoff winner of his career. But he was in position for the Hollywood-like heroics only because the Sharks survived a five-minute charging penalty to fourth-liner Jamie McGinn that straddled the line between the end of regulation and the start of overtime.

"Once we killed that off, we thought we had a good chance here," Thornton said. "We thought we'd get the momentum after doing that, and we did."

Goals by Kyle Wellwood, Jason Demers and Dany Heatley gave San Jose a one-goal lead three times during regulation, but each time the Kings tied the score on goals by Justin Williams, Ryan Smyth and Trevor Lewis.

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The game was also a bounce-back challenge for Sharks goalie Antti Niemi, who was yanked after giving up three goals on the first four shots he faced in Saturday night's 3-1 Los Angeles victory. And though Niemi did give up rebounds that led to two goals against him, coach Todd McLellan was pleased with the way his goaltender responded.

"The most pressure was probably on the goaltender, and I thought he played extremely well," McLellan said. "We got him the first period he needed to feel comfortable and get going again."

Neither team scored in the opening 20 minutes, but the Sharks dominated, peppering Quick -- whose 51-save performance kept the Sharks from any comeback bid in Game 5 -- with 16 shots while Niemi faced only five.

The Sharks finally were rewarded at 2:58 of the second period, and it was Wellwood's persistence that paid off. After hitting a post and missing a backhand in quick succession, the Sharks forward took a pass from Thornton and beat Quick high on the glove side.

The Kings offense did come alive at 13:27 on Williams' goal with Thornton in the penalty box for four minutes for a high-sticking cut on forward Brad Richardson's face.

San Jose regained the lead at 16:52 of the second period, when Joe Pavelski threaded a pass to Demers as he streaked down the left side, and his 36-foot wrist shot beat Quick. But that 2-1 advantage lasted only until 18 seconds into a wild third period when Smyth outmaneuvered Dan Boyle for a rebound and punched the puck in from the slot to even things up again.

The Sharks jumped ahead 3-2 at 8:48 of the final period when Heatley fished the puck out of Richardson's skates, then blasted a shot past Quick from the left faceoff circle for an unassisted goal.

But the Kings' power play wasn't finished.

The Sharks had killed all but the final four seconds of an interference penalty to Demers, but at that point a blocked shot went directly to Lewis, and he sent it into the San Jose net at 11:39.

McGinn earned both a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a hit on Richardson at 16:37, but Niemi stopped four shots in regulation, enabling Thornton to score on the only shot taken in overtime.

Devin Setoguchi fired the puck from the left point only to see it carom off Patrick Marleau's stick and skate to Thornton.

By avoiding a seventh game, the Sharks pick up an extra two days to rest and prepare for either the Chicago Blackhawks or Detroit Red Wings in the second round.

That extra time, McLellan and his player agreed, was huge.

"It's a marathon," the coach said of the postseason. "It's really the time of year where you need to manage your gas tanks a little bit. Not having to go back and play that seventh game is very valuable to us."

The Sharks announced after the game that tickets for the first two games of Round 2 will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the standard outlets with the usual restrictions.